Six out of 10 Spaniards consider that the internet and their mobile phone are essential in their lives and 90% affirm that they already use the internet on a daily basis.
If you are reading this article on your phone screen, even on your computer or tablet, if you are at home, in the office or teleworking - the same thing - you will see that you also fit the profile of the new Internet user.
Among all that the coronavirus pandemic has brought us over the last year, the
acceleration in the uses of technology
is one of the most obvious effects.
The
BBVA Foundation
has presented this Thursday its study
Attitudes towards Technology and Uses of ICT in Spanish Society within the framework of Covid-19,
a work that examines a broad set of behaviors of our society on the internet and their assessments of uses of technology in recent months, comparing the results with a similar report carried out in 2008.
Today, the majority of Spaniards consider that technology
makes our lives easier and more comfortable
, and that its benefits outweigh its damages, despite the fact that the perception of the risks of the Internet has risen, especially in regard to to the protection of privacy, the veracity of information, harassment or excessive advertising.
And this is where the research yields one of the most surprising data.
66% of Spaniards are already very or quite concerned that the Government accesses information about what they do on the Internet
.
In fact, half the population believes that the coronavirus crisis is causing governments to use technology to control us for purposes other than health.
This perception is greater among the youngest and among those who are ideologically located on the right.
78% of those surveyed believe that the pandemic will have an impact on "freedoms".
"We do not have data to compare how this concern has evolved, but it is clear that privacy is one of the weakest points of the internet and is the greatest concern surrounding its use," said
Consuelo Perera
, technician
during the presentation of the report
of the Department of Social Studies and Public Opinion of the BBVA Foundation.
"Just as the Government appears, companies or search engines appear, any information that is collected through the network generates concern among citizens."
Its effect is part of what
Rafael Pardo
, director of the Foundation, has called "the
shock
of the pandemic", a turbine that has shaken the trends that were already in sight 12 years ago.
If then, only 18% of Spaniards considered that the Internet was "essential" in their life, in 2020 this percentage has reached 60%.
In fact,
90% use the internet on a daily basis and a third claim to be connected almost all day
, reflecting how the web has penetrated practically all spheres of daily activity and occupies a central space in our lives.
Mobile phones are also considered essential in our lives by 57% of Spaniards, although it already started with high results in 2008, when 46% affirmed it.
"Technologies have grown in extension, in number of users, but also in number of areas in which they have been implemented. They have grown in intensity and depth of use.
Many people use them, for a long time and in many areas,
" he stressed. Brown.
The rise of telecommuting
Among the most relevant data from the BBVA study, it is worth highlighting that
teleworking among the employed population has gone from 16% to 30% during the pandemic
, with a significantly higher percentage among those with a higher educational qualification.
Video calls have become widespread and workers believe that their productivity has not changed, even that it has improved.
"They have been able to better reconcile their work and family life, although it has also been difficult for them to limit working hours and they have missed personal contact with their co-workers," says the report.
The experience in the educational system is considered positive, but at a significant distance from teleworking.
In both cases, the majority of employees and students consider that the results have been satisfactory.
64% believe that the changes that the coronavirus has brought in this field will be lasting
, compared to 29% who believe that everything will be temporary.
On a personal level, the degree of trust and privacy that interaction implies makes Spaniards today still mostly against resorting to digital means to meet friends or a partner.
"The Internet is used to amplify rather than replace social relationships," Pardo explained.
During the pandemic we have resorted to internet distribution, we have consulted more digital media and we have even made the purchase
online
, despite the fact that 93% of Spaniards still prefer to go to the supermarket.
The same percentage of Spaniards prefer to go to the face-to-face consultation with the doctor than to solve their doubts by phone or through the network.
71% use the internet to make bank transfers, but 88% still go to their office if they have to request a loan.
Since 2008,
the number of Spaniards who pay to watch or download movies and series
(from 7 to 45%) and to listen and download music (from 11 to 32%)
has also grown notably
, but there are still very significant percentages who declare that they have neither done it nor are they willing to do so in the future, a percentage that reaches 64% in the case of paying to read a newspaper in its digital version.
83% of Spaniards still prefer paper to read a book.
The pandemic has left other positive consequences.
Science and health have become the main recipients of the trust of the Spanish and the best valued source for information.
More than 90% believe that the pandemic has demonstrated the need to invest much more in science and medicine.
75% of citizens have searched for information about Covid on the Internet and have resorted to conventional media over social networks
, which, despite seeing their use multiplied by 14 since 2008, occupy the last place in the consideration of reliable source.
In this sense, once again, organizations linked to science and medicine top the list of reliable sources of information, followed by newspapers in digital or digital version and radios.
Televisions, the central government and social networks do not reach a 5 on a scale of 0 to 10 in the confidence they inspire.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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